House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) accused President Biden of “absolute insanity” on Wednesday over his administration’s handling of immigration policy and warned of “clear and present danger” to the US unless the migrant crisis ends.
“We have a catastrophe on our southern border,” Johnson said in his first House floor speech, which came nearly 100 days after he won the speaker’s gavel in October. “From Texas to New York, a wave of illegal immigrants is now sweeping our communities.”
The speaker also dismissed ongoing Senate negotiations on a $106 billion national security supplemental package that includes border policy changes, saying that a leaked draft of the bill showed that up to 5,000 immigrants would still be allowed in each day.
“The number should be zero,” Johnson said of the proposal.
Top House Republicans put in place record-breaking border crossings, increased fentanyl overdose deaths and the trafficking of “vulnerable women and children” by Mexican cartels during the Biden administration — in addition to the arrest of 361 illegal immigrants flagged on a terrorism watch list.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) accused President Biden of “absolute insanity” over his administration’s handling of immigration policy. C-SPAN “The situation on our southern border presents a clear and present danger to our national security,” Johnson declared of Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. AFP via Getty Images
“The situation on our southern border presents a clear and present danger to our national security,” Johnson declared, citing congressional testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray about the 1.5 million “tourists” who evaded detection on Biden’s watch when they entered the US.
About the same number have been released to the country on humanitarian parole to await court hearings, which may not last for a decade, that will determine their immigration status – a “ridiculous” policy, according to Johnson.
US Customs and Border Protection has found more than 7 million immigrants at the southern border since Biden took office in January 2021, the speaker added, noting that “35 of our 50 states, including my home state of Louisiana, have no residents. the big one.”
“Where in the world is Secretary Mayorkas in all this?” Johnson asked, calling on him to admit earlier this month that 85% of immigrants are later released to the US. AP
“Ninety-five percent of drug overdoses in New Orleans are caused by fentanyl,” Johnson said. “In Louisiana last week, a precious two-year-old child was found dead with fentanyl in his system.”
“Where in the world is Secretary Mayorkas in all this?” he asked, calling out Homeland Security secretary Biden for admitting earlier this month that 85% of immigrants are later released into the US, while the Obama administration “detains 82% of illegal immigrants.”
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That figure was based on Mayorkas’ discussions with Border Patrol agents earlier this month in Eagle Pass, Texas — but Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told The Post on Wednesday that he was present for the speech and that the secretary actually said the figure was “higher than 85%.”
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told The Post on Wednesday that he was present for the speech and that the secretary said the figure was “higher than 85%.” Getty Images
The House Homeland Security Committee voted early Wednesday morning to bring two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas to the floor — and Johnson said in his speech the house “will move quickly” to pass them, possibly as soon as next week.
Johnson also criticized Biden for overturning several Trump administration policies that allowed the immediate deportation of some immigrants and forced others to wait for their asylum court dates in Mexico.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in major US cities have been scrambling to provide food, housing and education to the historic influx of immigrants, prompting New York City Mayor Eric Adams to attack Biden directly.
Johnson also criticized Biden for overturning several Trump administration policies that allowed the deportation of some immigrants and forced others to wait for asylum hearings in Mexico. Getty Images
“American school students have been forced into virtual schools. why? So immigrants can sleep in their school buildings,” Johnson said, referring to a Brooklyn high school that sent students home and allowed immigrants to shelter in their gyms overnight earlier this month.
“We’re a crowded city that already has a housing crisis, and a large homeless population to boot,” Staten Island GOP Rep. Malliotakis told The Post after Johnson’s speech.
“If the mayor does not stop misinterpreting the law of the right to protection, and [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer hasn’t actually passed a bill that would secure the border, and the president refuses to rescind his executive order, I worry about every park, every school, every assisted living facility, being taken from citizens to house individuals who pay cartels thousands of dollars to be here.”
“This is all absolute madness and unraveling the safety of our community,” Johnson said. “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas planned this catastrophe.” AFP via Getty Images
On a recent trip to the border, the House speaker said, he learned the cartel makes up to $3.5 million a day trafficking migrants – mainly undocumented children – adding up to more than $1 billion earned annually.
“This is all absolute madness and dismantles the security of our community,” he said. “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas planned this catastrophe.”
Biden, 81, declared Tuesday on the South Lawn that he had “done everything I can do.”
“I can confidently say that Border Patrol agents want him charged,” Judd said during a roundtable discussion with Republican lawmakers Tuesday afternoon. James Keivom
“Just give me the power. I have been asking since the day I started serving,” he told reporters. “Give me the Border Patrol, give me the people, the judges — give me the people who can stop this and make it work properly.”
But Johnson said he had told the president by phone of several solutions, including an immediate curtailment of illegal immigration under the Immigration and Nationality Act — a decision the Obama administration has made at least 19 times.
Following Johnson’s remarks, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told reporters that the debated version of the Senate supplemental bill would be “dead on arrival” in the lower chamber.
Meanwhile, during a subsequent roundtable discussion with Republican lawmakers, Judd asserted Mayorkas: “I can confidently say that Border Patrol agents want him charged.”
“He said simply being in the country was not sufficient for enforcement action – that was his intention,” Judd added. “All you have to do is look at people who don’t appear in court. That means they broke the release rules and he now has a duty to go after the individual, but he didn’t and that’s where he broke the law.
“If we don’t charge him, then we let him get away with encouraging the cartel to continue advertising our services around the world. There must be accountability in our government.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
